Z POV:

Heading to their base, we could already hear Tanner's faint cries.
She had a bad feeling, and she has those all the time, but we ignore them because she's our mother and all she does is worry.
But this time, she was right.
"Oh my God." She whispered, running her hand down the crease that used to seperate their door from the house's walls.
"Those poor people." Craig whispered.
The TwistedBeetles were gone.
"What did they do with the bodies?" Tyler asked.
Nogla was tense now, standing close to me, almost shaking.
"Let's go see." Evan murmered and walked inside of the raided camp base.
"Oh my heavens. No." Tanner covered her mouth, silent tears covering her face like foundation.
I wrapped my arms around her as we walked around the base.
There was nothing left.
This gang used to be a close ally, but after being relocated, we hardly saw them. One of Tanner's closest friends lived among them.
"Who would've done this?" She asked noone.
"Where are the bodies?" I asked, startled.
There were no traces of them except for a few spots of blood on the rugged carpet.
"Oh, no. Maria." Tanner closed her eyes and covered her mouth, trying to stop the tears.
"Tanner. I'm sorry." I said, struggling to keep my limping best friend in my arms.
"They must have raided them." Delirious sighed.
"Who?" Nogla asked.
"Who would've done this?"
"The Phoenixs. What's left of them. They may have grown stronger. I have a feeling they have the same idea we do. They're looking for neutral gangs, ones that would take their side. The Beetles must've declined, and they knew they'd fight with us. So they killed them. And took all their supplies." Evan was furious as he said this.
"These poor innocent people. All they were doing is what they thought was right." I said to him.
He nodded.
"I'm sure this would ruin what's left of their reputation." Pewds said to us.
"The Vipers were allies with them as well. You don't think they killed them, do you?" Bryce asked.
Evan shrugged.
"Time to find out."

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

One knock. Two. Then three.
"Hello?" A masked figure stepped out, completely covered in black, a robe of the darkest color.
"We are here to seek help." Evan informed them.
"And we are here to decline. Even of it means getting our throats slit and raided like our cousins. Is that what you're here to do?" The feminine voice accused.
Tanner let out a gurgled scream and slid down onto her knees, sobbing.
"Tanner." I picked her up into my arms and she wiped away her tears, knowing now was not the best time.
"We are here for the opposite. You are talking of the Phoenixs." Delirious addressed.
"They did this?" She asked.
Another figure appeared beside her, and then another.
"Indeed. They killed one of our best soldiers. Th-" Evan began.
"THEY KILLED MY FRIEND, MARIA!" Tanner gurgled out.
This was a rare sight, to see Tanner being so enraged.
"Tanner." I pulled her back and silenced her.
She nodded.
"I see." The lady agreed.
"And what is your purpose here?" A second figure asked.
"We are the other side. War is declared. And we are against the Phoenixs." I said.
"We will join you." The second said.
"No, we must ask Father first." The third said.
She had a rough voice.
"Let's ask then." The second said.
"I'll wait here." The first told them.
They nodded and headed off.
About a minute later, they reappeared.
"We will join," The second began.
Evan nodded.
"If the Knights do." The third one ended.
"Perfect. We were just about to ask them." Delirious smiled.
"Let's go ask then?" Evan said.
We all nodded and headed off to the Knights.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Gang after gang joined us, but many had already perished in search for The Phoenixes.
Fifty percent of them died due to their loyalty to our gang.
Tanner was struggling to breathe at this point, Ohm being beside her, trying to hold her up.
"Come on, Tanner. We have to do this." He whispered to her.
My mother didn't deserve this.
None of them did.
"Tanner, I want to talk to you when we get back to base." I mumbled.
She nodded.
Everyone else looked at me for a brief second, but then they went on with their buisness.
When we reached the base again, Tanner and I walked outside, about a mile away, and then jumped on a nearby building for some privacy.
She looked at me.
"What's wrong?" She asked.
"Tanner, they, don't deserve this. This war is going to ruin their lives." I told her.
She nodded.
"You're absolutely right." She whispered.
"I don't want them to go through it either. They're going to remember this for the rest of their lives. They'll look back on it. They'll never forget-" She began.
"But what if they could?" I asked.
She looked at me.
"What?"
"Tanner, the mind shock device that clears your memory. Remember when Evan built it?" I asked.
She nodded.
"That could make them forget. They won't remember even being in a gang. They could go on with their lives." I smiled.
She grinned.
"Are you serious?"
I nodded.
"We have to do it." She said.
I nodded.
"Afterwards, we'll split them up. So that they don't have the slightest clue who they used to be. They get another chance. Another life." She told me.
I nodded.
But what Tanner didn't know was that she would join them as well, because I didn't want her to suffer either.