Richard Dallas was by no means an alcoholic. He functioned fine without liquor, yet people told him numerous times that he was. Richard drank socially and nothing more. Richard had his head rested against a hard surface in a pleasant and deep sleep. He loved to dream, it gave him a much needed break from reality. Life wasn't so bad, he had protection and a Family and friends. A roof over his head in food in his stomach. It was as much as a man could ask for, and he knew that. But in his dreams he was a king, commanding forces of many to take lands and plunder in his name. Liberating slaves and fighting with honor and valor, beloved by his subjects, he lived a long and happy life that his heir took over when he met his peaceful end, he dreamed of this often and could run the whole extended dream through his mind like a movie yet every time seemed like a new adventure with a new story and new twists and turns. In his dream he rode on horseback into battle, charging the enemy without relent. His favorite part of the dream was when he felled the last sworn vassel of the Tyrant King. Richard couched his lance and rode his destrier toward the vassel with great speed, catching him off guard, lance piercing his armour and dehorsing him. With a final breath the man cursed Richard

"Wake up you damn drooling drunk!"

Richard carried a look of confusion, this wasn't a part of his dream, he thought. Why would the knight choose that as his dying curse? Richard suddenly felt a sharp slap on the back of his head. He lurched upwards, eyes blurry and stinging, confusion evident on his face. A face comes into focus, a man he has never seen before, he looks angry. Richard takes a inquisitive glance around the room and discovers it's still night time, and he is still tired. He looks back at the man snapping to get his attention.

"You gonna buy anymore drinks? I can't have you sleeping on my bar, drooling on the wood! Either buy some drinks or beat it."

A bartender, Richard thought, memories flowing back to him. He was in a bar, drinking himself to death on shitty whiskey and bourbon. He doesn't have the faintest idea when he passed out he gave another glance around the room, surveying his surroundings this time, he saw tables relatively empty. A couple women standing near a pool table while some guys, who outnumber the group were playing and cursing at each other and the women looked ready to ditch the guys. He returned his gaze to the impatient bartender.

"Yeah, uh, gimmie some bourbon, neat."

Richard mumbled, starting to wake up. He must of drank plenty, he was feeling of balance and vision blurring. He slurred when he spoke, he could hear it but couldn't correct it. Richard yawns and stretches his arms above his head, before rubbing the sleep out of his tired eyes. He took a cursory glance at the mirror across the bar from him and winced. His hair was a mess and had lines on his face from resting his head on his sleeves. He wiped his mouth, and winced again, he was drooling, great. The bartender returned with his drink and he chugged it down, feeling the liquor burn on the way down, he didn't mind it anymore. He got up and headed to the bathroom, embarrassed. On the walk there he got some snickers and glances from passers by. Upon arriving he quickly fixed his hair, combing it back with his trusty comb. He washed his face and gave it a quick rub with paper towels. The lines were still there, fading slightly, and his eyes looked tired and restless, but other than that he was cleaned up. His clothes were wrinkled and improperly fitted, but he didn't bother fixing them, he just shuffled out of the bathroom and accidentally bumped into one of the men he saw by the pool table

"Watch where you're going shithead!"

The rude man had said, pushing him out of the way. Richard was was too drunk and tired to bother dignifying him with a response so he just walked away wordlessly, back to the bar where he was planning on having more drinks. After the first few he was feeling better again, and by the next four after that he was smashed. He pulled out his wallet and paid for his drinks. He stumbled out to the back alley to take a leak before heading home. Before unzipping his pants, he saw the previous rude man, obviously drunk though not nearly so much as Richard. He had a woman pressed up against the wall, and she did not look happy, she was struggling against his grasp, but the man was much bigger, she was saying 'No' and 'I don't want this' in a clear and demanding voice. But the rude man would not listen. Richard got angry when the pieces clicked in his inebriated brain, the asshole was trying to force himself on her! Richard walked forward, almost losing his footing a few times. Once he was in clear view Richard spoke up

"Hey asshole! The woman is saying no."

Richard said, in his angry voice, hoping the man would just leave. Richard must have slurred his words again because the man just laughed and threw the lady to the ground. He advanced on Richard, who was about the same height as the man, but weighed less and was significantly more drunk. Richard did not like his odds on the fight.

"Yeah well, what are you gonna do about it?"

That was the last thing Richard needed to hear. He shot his arm out quickly and caught the man in the nose, and followed up with a punch to the gut. The shot was quick enough to catch him off guard and strong enough to make his nose bleed. Richard stumbled and lost his balance, almost falling. The man caught his breath and Richard hoped he would leave but instead he jabbed Richard in the jaw and gave a strong hook in the same spot. Richard fell to the ground, too drunk to keep his balance. The man launched his boot into Richard's ribs and stomped his stomach a few more times and then laughed. Clearly amused with Richard's attempts to get up, even after his beating. Richard rolled onto his side and propped himself up on one arm. When the man went for another kick, Richard drew his gun and pointed it at the mans head. Richard didn't like bringing guns to a fistfight but it was already unfair, and he was wasted. The man backed off and scowled. He did not look afraid, but also didn't want to die.

"Last chance, back off or your buddies inside'll know what the inside of your head looks like"

Richard threatened, voice thick with bravado. He got himself back up to his feet and took a step away from the man, still aiming his gun at him. The man slowly backed off and gave a scathing look at the woman, who was sitting on the ground, still afraid. He turned and ran out of the alleyway, stopping when he reached the end.

"I'm gonna be back for you with some friends, you drunk bastard"

Richard sighed deeply, he really did not need more of those guys. He extended a shaky hand out to the woman, and pulled her to her feet. She smiled and gave her knight in shining armour a once over. Richard had a broken nose and a bruise on his jaw. His white shirt had blood stains on it and Richard slouched from a mix of drunkenness and the bruise on his ribs. She thanked him profusely and asked if he was a cop. Richard laughed and told her he was far from it. He gave a tip of his imaginary hat and strolled off, out of the alleyway. He walked a few blocks in the warm night air before he stopped and drew a cigarette from his pocket. Richard leaned back against the wall and lit it up, taking a deep drag wondering when he would see the man and his friends again. Hopefully when he's sober, he would love to beat down that smug bastard. He took a few more drags off his cigarette and kept walking. He didn't exactly know where but he hoped it involved another bar. Richard pulled a flask from his pocket and took a swig, after that he felt revitalized. For the rest of the night Richard went bar hopping, spending all his money on cigars liquor and taxi fair. He drank and flirted and smoked and played cards. He stole liquor and wallets and got kicked out of bars, he got into fights and earned more bruises. Richard won more money gambling than he lost, but he spent it all on drinks for himself and whomever he found himself drinking with.

       He ran with some men he met at the first bar who took to calling him 'Riverboat' because he wouldn't tell them his real name, and his penchant for gambling and reckless behavior. Even drunk it didn't take much to outwit the types of people he was playing with, it also helped that he was real good a swindling. Richard beat the gang he was drinking with a few times in a few sharpshooting competitions. He was the life of the party and the night was going so smoothly... until very suddenly it wasn't. They were at a bar, drinking and playing pool when a gunshot resonated through the room, and a body hit the floor. Richard's gaze darted to the sound of the impact, it was the bartender, he was shot. Richard looked around the room and he saw 5 men with guns standing over the corpse. People were screaming and running through the front doors. The guns were leveled at him. He cursed and dove behind the bar rolling like a bag of rocks. Through the confusion of people darting past the shooters two more of his new pals were able to make it behind the bar with him. The rest, unfortunately were gunned down when they drew their guns. It was three on five and they were pinned down. Richard gave a loud drunken laugh, which led to more gunfire on the bar. He grabbed a bottle of vodka on the ground that survived the fall and poured some on a bar towel, before stuffing that towel in the bottle, and light it up with a match, throwing the bottle at the men, it wouldn't burn too much but it would cause a distraction. Richard felt a heat on his arm while he threw it, and the men shouted at it erupted. Richard and the men didn't wait, they got up and sprinted for the back door. Richard stumbled and nearly fell as he felt a sharp pain in his right arm. The man to his right took a bullet in his back and fell to the floor. Richard shouldered through the door and fell onto the pavement, quickly getting up he closed the door behind them. Only then did Richard realize that his arm was on fire, he tore the shirt from his back and threw it onto the wet pavement. He winced and grabbed his arm after throwing, discovering he nearly caught a bullet on his way out. It just grazed his skin but was still enough to make him bleed. Richard, now shirtless and bleeding, with one man left, ran for the end of the alleyway and looked both ways. The men with the guns were to his left so he sprinted right, gun nearly falling out of his pants. He made it to an abandoned three story building and kicked open the door. They ran inside and up the stairs.

"Let me use your phone" Richard told the man adrenaline sobering him a bit.

"What? Why, you ain't callin the cops are ya?" He responded, leering at Richard but still taking out his phone

"Nah I gotta call a friend" Richard said, grabbing the phone from him and dialing up Woltrazz

"Hey man, I got in a bit of a pinch, could you come to that abandoned building across from the shitty bar downtown? I could use some help. Bring a gun." 

Richard hung up before he could answer, chiding himself for his rudeness, he had to remember to apologize later. Shouting snapped Richard out of his thinking. The men knew where they were. So shirtless and bleeding Richard barricaded the door and drew his Revolver from the back of his pants. The other man doing the same. He really hoped Wolt would get here before they found which room they were in. Richard snapped his head up to the man, remembering something of vital importance.

      "You got any cigarettes? I'm out."

Gets a phone call in the middle of the night as I pick up quickly because I don't want to wake anyone up. I hear RichardDallas in panic mode that he got pinned down in some building.
He clearly sounded drunk..... again.... Obviously because this happens a lot. I noticed that he was drunk in the HQ as well the last time. A small though ran through my head "why is he drunk so often?"

I got out of bed while softly because I didn't want to wake up someone. So I got in my beloved Mercedes-Benz 770K and drove off to the mentioned building. Still wondering to what's going on because I couldn't reply. It worried me that he explicitly said to bring a gun.

Driving from my home in Black Bottom all the way to Downtown Detroit took a while but traffic was empty so I gunned it and drove as fast as I could.

Hopefully I was there in time

It is 1am in the morning when the phone rings on BlackJack's wall. He rolls over in his bed and pulls the covers over his head. Eventually the phone stops ringing. Seconds later, the phone begins to ring again. BlackJack slowly drags himself out of bed and into the living room where the phone is ringing. Almost as soon as he reaches the phone the ringing stops. BlackJack returns to his bed and tucks himself back in.

5 minutes later

Tires screech out the front of the High Rollers HQ and car doors slammed. BlackJack bolts upright out of bed and grabs his gun. He races to the window to see what the hell is going on outside. He immediately recognises the car out the front as Woltrazz's and relaxes somewhat. There is a loud banging on the HQ door. BlackJack urgently makes his way down the stairs to greet Woltrazz:

"What the fuck is going on? Was that you calling my phone just before? It's the middle of the fucking night!"

Just get in the fucking car and I'll explain it to you on the way

Once we both stepped in the car and I raced off to the mentioned building.

Richard is drunk again and in some kind of problem. He told me to bring a gun so it's something serious. I couldn't respond because he hung up before I had a chance to respond. So I thought that I could use some extra firepower on this on just in case and you my friend live close by the building he's at.

As I pick up some more speed while driving to the building when I didn't realise that the is was closer than I thought. Hitting the brakes and leaving a huge skidmark.

Well there goes a silent entry....

      Richard was angry, he didn't have a cigarette, and he really needed one. The men banging on the door weren't as important. That's not to say they weren't annoying. He had a splitting headache and he was trying to figure a way out of the situation.  He scanned the room for another way out, he didn't see one, there was a window but it was too far to drop, the only door was the one they were at. He didn't really see a way out. Suddenly they heard the loud screeching of brakes. And the banging stopped, he heard footsteps leading away from the door. Richard waited a second and opened the door slightly, peeking out he saw nobody in the hall but someone started pulling on the door, he pulled it closed, then slammed it open, knocking back the man left. Richard grabbed his wrist and slammed it back into the wall, making the thug drop his gun. His pal came out and smashed him in the jaw, knocking him unconscious. Richard and his friend drew their guns and advanced down the stairs after waiting for a few more moments ready to take on the 4 remaining men, hoping Woltrazz would even the odds some, a sober gun would do some good.. even if it was just one..

There was one thug just behind the door when we entered. He was very young, 15 years old max. He lifted his gun while shaking because you can see how nervous he was. I'm not going to lie I either had the chance to wack him or to make him surrender.
Being raised in this world I and with my mindset of anger because I was called awake.

A bright flash occured filling the the room.

The 15 year old dropped down to the ground and I see that my gun was smoking out of the barrel.

I didn't realise that I shot him, I really didn't.....

BlackJack had fallen asleep in the car on the way. He was dog tired from taking care of some business out of town all weekend. He heard two swift gunshots comes from inside the building. He reached for his gun and raced inside. He was met with the limp lifeless bodies of Woltrazz and RichardDallas. Suddenly a voice appeared from the darkness:

"You have nothing to fear. None of this concerns you. I will give you a moment to pay your respects and then you must leave this place and never return."

BlackJack reached into his left hip pocked and removed a deck of playing cards. He removed two aces of spades and two Jack of Hearts and placed them on the chests of the deceased:

"Rest in peace my friends. I am sorry to see you both in this way."

BlackJack quickly turned and exited the building before driving off in Woltrazz's car.