Waking Up the Devil

A loud bang echoed throughout the small shooting range, and a scrawny man with a lopsided smile chuckled, glancing over at his partner. “Good one.”

Nikki smirked as he lowered the pistol in his hands, eyeing the target in front of him. Right between the eyes. Perfect. “Thanks,” he replied softly, cocking his gun to eject the spent bullet casing. He had only been the new leader of Chaos for a little over a year, and in that short amount of time, he had earned himself quite the reputation throughout downtown Los Angeles. He was a natural shot, never missing his target. Throughout the various crime circles, he had become known as “Sharp-Shooter Sixx.”

The scrawny man, conveniently named Scrawny, beside Nikki chuckled again. “They don’t call you sharp-shooter for nothin’.”

Nikki slid the pistol under his belt and smoothed out his shirt. He was dressed awfully proper for being in such a gang as Chaos, sporting a white, button-up shirt only buttoned halfway, exposing his muscular, tattooed chest. Black pants with holes in the knees complimented the shirt, the belt that secured them a dark shade of brown and accented with a silver skull buckle. As usual, Nikki wore his red-and-black plaid Converse and eyeliner around his lively, hazel eyes. He appeared to be quite the charming man. Except for the gun on his hip, of course.

Nikki gave a little smirk and a slight nod. “Damn right,” he replied coolly, turning his head to look at his partner and perking an eyebrow. “Say, what’s been going on with the leader? I’ve been hearing about some crazy shit…”

Scrawny sighed, leaning back against the wall. The gang’s leader was the talk of the group ever since he had decided that anyone to question him was “unworthy.” In other words, they had a death sentence. The small man lightly shrugged his shoulders.

“There’s talk of overthrowing the current big boss. People are sayin’ he’s getting too power-hungry.”

Nikki took a seat on a random stool that was in the room and sighed in response, scratching the back of his head. “Damn… the bastard’s getting nuts. He’s killed almost half of the damn Chaos, just because they wanted something different from the same ol’ shit? Ridiculous.”

“Yeah, it’s out of hand,” Scrawny muttered. “What’s left of us… we’re planning a takeover. And votin’ for a new leader.”

Nikki simply shrugged. “What’re you gonna do? Kill him?” he asked with a little chuckle.

“If we have to.”

“Well then, in that case…” The older, tattooed man stood up and smiled mischievously at the other.

“I’m in.”



All that could be heard throughout the Chaos base was gunshots, yelling, and begs for mercy. The takeover had begun, and Nikki smirked as he led the group of protesting members up to the leader’s domain, calmly shooting anyone who tried to stop their progress. They eventually came up to the big door of the leader’s room, which was guarded by two, somewhat menacing, bulky men. With two well-placed shots, the guards were lifeless on the floor. Behind Nikki, Scrawny began to giggle.

“Clearly they don’t know Sharp-Shooter Sixx!” He gave Nikki a pat on the shoulder and ran to the big door, pulling on the handle.

“Dammit, it’s locked!”

“Figures,” Nikki scoffed. “Check the guards for a key or something.”

The accomplice ran excitedly to the guards’ bodies and began rummaging through their pockets. His eyes brightened like a dog digging up a bone when he came across a key ring. Nikki smirked and cocked his handgun, ready to shoot if he needed to. He gripped the weapon in both of his hands, keeping his eyes glued to the door. With a swift motion of his hand, Nikki signaled Scrawny to open the door. After fumbling with the key ring for a few minutes, the door was unlocked and swung open. Nikki immediately pointed his gun, his line of fire landing right in-between the leader’s eyes.

“Peek-a-boo.”

The leader stood completely still, his eyes laced with fear as he stared at the pistol’s barrel that was aimed right at him.

Nikki glared at the stocky man in front of him with contempt and anger, finger on the trigger and ready. “Give me one reason I shouldn’t blow your brains all over the wall.”

The leader was visibly nervous, shaking and sweating up a storm. “Look, I know I’ve fucked up –“
“Oh, you’ve done way more than that,” Nikki interrupted. “Killing people who don’t agree with you? That’s fucking insane.”

His finger was now resting on the trigger with more force than earlier, and his hazel eyes fired up with hatred. Nikki’s fuse was just about burnt out.

“You are a pig.”

A single gunshot echoed through the room, and the leader fell to the ground, lifeless. Scrawny giggled and slapped Nikki’s back in excitement. “That’s what I’m talking about!” he cheered. Nikki slid his pistol back under his belt.

“Bastard got what was coming to him.”

The remaining members of Chaos circled around the older man, and Scrawny stepped up to stand beside him, grinning and putting a hand on Nikki’s shoulder. “So, me and the other Chaos boys, along with planning this lovely event, also decided on who should replace that bastard as the new leader.”
Nikki’s eyebrows perked up in curiosity. “And?”

Scrawny smirked even more. “Well, we figured you would be perfect.” The other men nodded in agreement, and Nikki’s eyes widened in slight surprise. The smaller man patted Nikki’s back again.

“So, what do you say, bud?”

Nikki began to smirk himself and scratched the back of his head calmly.

“You bet.”