Detroit, Michigan


America's Comeback City. Arsenal of Democracy. Hitsville, USA. Hockeytown. The Motor City. Motown. The D. Murder City.


         

Picture it, Detroit, 2021. Over the years the city has picked up a number of nicknames, most of them well earned. Whether you know Detroit for the cars, the hockey, the music, or the crime, it's always known for something. It was never a quiet city. It could be music from local venues, rowdy fans celebrating at Little Caesars Arena after a Red Wings or Pistons game, collective booing from Ford Field if an unfair call was made against the Lions or from Comercia Park when the Tigers can't seem to win their way out of a paper bag, or it could be the rumbling of dozens of motorcycles rolling through the streets day and night. Regardless of if it was east, west, or even southwest, that particular noise was unmistakeable and often defeaning.

Six years after World War II came to an end, three guys that had been best friends since childhood founded the Fallen Angels in 1951. They had all shared a love for motorcycles dating back to when they were kids, and wanted to share that enthusiasm with like-minded people. Initially, the club's creation was simply to share that love, to be peaceful and respectful of Detroit's other inhabitants and generally have a positive impact on the city. For a while all went according to plan until gang violence began to rise and expand throughout sub-territories of Detroit. George, Walter, and Thomas tried their best to keep things on the up and up, even using the Fallen Angels as a means to run gang members out, but all that did was make them a target. Walter and Thomas decided they needed to make a change, with the pitch that it was for their own protection and betterment of The Fallen, but George knew better. Sure, that may have been part of it, but he knew deep down the other two could see how well the gangs were doing financially thanks to illegal activity. The topic of running guns became the source of constant arguments among the three - often seeing George standing by himself on one side, being against the idea, with the other two standing side-by-side and being all for it. Those disagreements began in 1970 and it wasn't until 1972 that George realized he wasn't going to get through to the other two and opted to leave The Fallen. It was a painful decision but they all maintained a friendship and mutual respect upon George's departure. Within that same year, The Fallen found themselves a firearms supplier and slowly began inserting themselves into the arms-trafficking world.

In 1976, four years after leaving The Fallen, George founded Immortal Watch and settled withing southwest Detroit. The brand new motorcycle club consisted solely of combat veterans and first responders, as that was the only main requirement to be considered for joining The Immortals. George wanted to feel that brotherhood again, but do so in a law abiding manner. In any other instance, the arrival of a new MC would have raised suspicion to Walter and Thomas, but knowing it was George gave them no reason to be concerned. They knew their friend wouldn't encroach on their territory or guns, and out of respect they vowed to leave The Immortals alone. It was a mutual understanding between the three friends, George's club didn't try and derail the Fallen or rat them out to the authorities and The Fallen didn't try to run The Immortals out of Detroit or force a patch over. While the oldest of the three may not have approved of the illegal activities his two best friends had gotten involved with, he figured karma would take care of them in due time.

For the most part, things managed to operate smoothly, The Fallen became Detroit's prominent gun runner and George kept his club away from all of it since Walter and Thomas made good on their promise to keep their business out of Immortals territory. The Fallen had even managed to coexist with some of the local gangs that ran Detroit - primarily due to the fact that they dealt with weapons whereas the two biggest gangs, Motor City Aces (heroin) & 313 Kings (cocaine), ran the drug game. It was easy enough at first to let them do their thing so long as they weren't dumb enough to try and encroach on their so called claim over the firearms business. If they stuck to their lanes, then running the streets side-by-side wouldn't be an issue, and it wasn't, for a little while at least. In 1984 (March) karma caught up to them in a sense when the Motor City Aces came to learn that the Fallen had not only been selling guns to their biggest rivals, but for a better deal. The enraged Aces took retaliation seriously and began targetting any and all Fallen Angels, or anyone associated with them. There was nothing strategic with the way the Aces carried out their plan: shootings in broad daylight, hit and runs, arson, even stabbings. The attacks resulted in the loss of ten MC members (seven patches, two enforcers, and their tail gunner), two ol' ladies, and the tail gunner's three year old daughter. Thomas was ready to go to war right then and there, he wanted to answer violence with extreme violence but Walter did his best to calm him down and remind him it was best they bide their time.

It wasn't until the end of the year (December 26, 1984) that the Fallen answered the Aces in full. While George had separated himself from the club, he willingly met with his two best friends and helped them devise a course of action. Sure, he may have wanted nothing to do with violence or even murder, but some of the lives lost were his friends too and the Aces needed to be dealt with for a number of reasons. With a plan set in stone, the Fallen waited until the day after Christmas to set it in motion. First they targeted the Ace's heroin distribution warehouses, destroying their entire supply as well as planting damning evidence in strategic places. Second they took out some of their lower-level dealers, not caring that most of them were fourteen and fifteen years old. Next they disposed of a few higher ranking lieutenants after torturing them for information. Lastly they managed to turn the showrunners against each other and sat back to watch the Motor City Aces destruct from within. By July 1985 the Aces folded completely, the majority had been indicted and convicted on multiple charges including several murders resulting in them being sentenced to consecutive life terms. For the ones that weren't improsoned, they were either dead, placed in witness protection after turning on the Aces, or trying to get their shit together in order to stay alive. The Fallen continue to keep tabs on any and all surviving Aces and remain ready to bury every last one of them if it comes to that. For the ones that have turned their lives around they're generally left alone and for the ones that try to start their own version of the Aces, they're were almost immediately squashed and reminded why that would be a terrible idea.

For the near decade that followed there were a few scuffles here and there, but The Fallen stood strong and kept their ground. There were a few inner issues but those were taken care of relatively quick. The only thing that seemed to pose an issue was Thomas. Walter could see his friends need for more control of the city brew beneath the surface, the youngest of the three had always been the greediest. Thomas began expressing a desire to step into the drug trafficking world in 1994 (October) and wanting to push the Kings out of Detroit completely. In his mind, he wanted any and all illegal aspects of the city to run through The Fallen. Walter, having lost a grandchild a few years prior to a drug overdose was completely against the idea of the club getting involved with drugs. Sure they were easier to package and therefore easier to run, but he just couldn't get behind the concept. Walter considered himself a pretty hardened man, and his own offspring had followed in his footsteps and were part of the MC with him, but he saw that pain his son went through at the loss of his child and his own pain at losing a grandkid, it was something he wouldn't wish upon his worst enemy.

The difference of opinion sparked more fights between the two best friends that dragged on for nearly six months, George who normally would have sided with Walter opted to stay out of it completely, knowing full well how things would likely end. Sure enough, he was right. Not wanting to damage their friendship to the point of it not being able to be repaired, Walter and Thomas decided another split was the best option (March 1995). Walter remained in Detroit's east side while Thomas relocated to the west side with a few patches that decided to follow him. Thomas and the patches who followed him laid low for a little while, wanting to have connections secured and the like before a move was made. The Rogue Devils were officially founded by Thomas in January of 1996. Despite his hunger for power and money, his friendship with Walter was still important to him and a pact was made, The Fallen ran the east side and controlled the guns, The Devils would hopefully come to run the west side and the drugs. Thomas figured drug-trafficking was far more lucrative and easier, so honoring the pact for the time being was doable. Pending they could get themselves established as more than just a new motorcycle club.

Fast forward to present day and while they don't know when, both The Fallen and The Devils can feel a war brewing between the two. The Devils have long since taken over the drug game, and have either run most of the gangs out of the west side of Detroit or have them working for them instead. The Fallen have complete control of the east side still and are the main suppliers of illegal arms, most of the time they even supply the Devils. Thomas had long since stepped down as president but urged those who would come after him to begin pushing the envelope once Walter had passed in 2013. Both sides have been testing the waters, stepping onto oppostite business territories and turf only to be met with brutal and violent outcomes. It remains to be seen how things will truly play out between the two motorcycle clubs, but the only pact that remains in place, and always will, is the respect given to The Immortals and the promise to leave them alone. To this day, nobody has tried to go against that promise and never will. Now, as far as breaking the pact between Walter and Thomas to leave each other alone, that's been falling apart little by little for the past decade.