LarrySun:
This didn't make sense to me. If Tony was a Scarecrow, then he belonged in the same cult group with Pain. If that was truly the case, then he shouldn't have saved me. But he did. Why? I didn't need to ask the question out because he already saw the question in my eyes.

"I'm a Scarecrow," he repeated. "But I'm not a terrible cultist. I'm not saying I'm a saint; I've done a lot of things I'm not proud of. I've lied, I've stolen, I've killed. Before you begin to judge me, you should know that I killed when it was absolutely necessary. I had to save my own life. If I had not killed my adversary, I would have been killed. It was a tough choice to make but I chose to stay alive, no matter what it might cost me. Now listen, Kanu, there is no crossing back this path you're planning to cross. If you kill a man, you can't undo it. You will be branded a killer forever. All the perfumes of India would not cover the smell of that sin. No water will be enough to wash your hands clean. However, it gets only bad with the first killing. The more you kill, the easier it gets. This path of revenge you're planning to tread should be given a deep thought. I can only advise you."

"Won't you stop me from planning to kill your cult members?"

"Why should I? You're doing exactly what I would have done in your situation. I'm a just person. I admit that Pain isn't a person fit to live. It is forbidden for Crows to attack each other lest I would have killed him myself a long time ago. He's abusing his power. People are afraid of him, but not me, no one scares me. He attained that high rank by committing the unthinkable crime. He killed his parents and brought their heads to our coven. All because he wanted to be ranked. Calling Pain a beast is an insult to beasts. If you are the person who would put him down, then I'm not going to stop you. I didn't save you so that you could avenge your girlfriend's death. Well, that's not entirely why I saved you. I saved you because you were being treated unjustly. If any Crow knows that I'm doing this, I would be de-Crowed and brutally killed. I have to be careful. That's why I brought you to this quiet place. This is my great-grandfather's uncle's cousin's house. No one knows about this place."

"What is the relationship between Scarecrow and Southpaw?"

"These two are sworn enemies. We kill each other in multitude. A Crow and a Paw cannot stay in the same room; it's either one leaves the room for the other or they kill each other."

"Then why haven't a Southpaw killed Pain."

"Didn't you hear me before? Pain is a ranked Crow. It's very hard for him to be killed."

"I don't see anything hard in walking up to him and shooting him point-blank."

Tony smiled at me. "That's what a civilian cultist would do. Then again, no civilian cultist must dare it. They would be wiped off entirely. Did you read about the 2008 federal massacre? All the members of Nacet were killed in all the schools around the country. A drunk Naceter mistakenly stabbed a ranked Paw; all the members of Nacet paid dearly with their lives. We even joined in the killing, it was fun. But Scarecrow and Southpaw, they have class. We don't kill each other that way. If any ranked member of either cult must be killed, a herald would be sent to deliver a message of doom."

"A herald? How is that done?"

"If a ranked member of Scarecrow would be killed by the Southpaws, a lower ranked Paw would carry a scarecrow to the territory of the Crows and set the effigy ablaze. In the same vein, if a ranked member of Southpaw would be killed by the Scarecrows, a lower ranked Crow would take the left hand of a mannequin to the territory of the Paws and stab the hand to the ground. This has never happened in a long time because it always ends in disaster."

"Well, I'm not a Southpaw or a Scarecrow. I am Kanu and I am going to kill Pain and those bastards who raped my Jumai. To hell with ranks."

Tony stared at me, smiled broadly again and said, "Good luck with that. I will render my assistance anyway I can. Killing Pain will be doing a lot of people a great favour."