CH2: THE FOUR ARMED GANG

February 1st, 3030. A new school term for the students of Raid High School. Max Lin, who turned fourteen, was taking his first steps as a high school freshman. He was a tall, lean boy with fiery red hair and an average face, This school wasn't funded enough to buy uniforms for students so all students were allowed to dress whatever they wanted, as long as it was appropriate.

" Ah jeez. This is going to be a long school year." He whispered to himself.

" Luckily, you have us, ma dude." A tall, brown-skinned boy patted Max on the back after hearing what he said. The boy was the same height as Max but he was more muscular, looked bigger, bolder, and had a wild look in his eye. CJ was Max's best friend ever since he moved to Raid Town. The two grew up telling each others stories about their lives and would envision themselves as big-time men in Raid Town. CJ was a rich kid, not only because of the Golex watch he had, but also the cars he'd come in at school.

" Sap CJ. Surprised your parents didn't take you to that boarding school for snobby kids." Max said.

" Yeah, they said I can stay only if I continue keeping my grades up. My dad, although very rich, doesn't want to spend money on useless things." CJ was the son of the richest man in Raid City, AJ, a businessman that dealt with biochemical technology. Although his parents were loaded, he didn't want anything to do with that money. CJ's old rich friends considered themselves higher than anyone and he didn't like that so he decided to ignore his parent's wealth and focus more on making real, true friends that didn't just be with him for his money. His parents also didn't want their children being nagged by paparazzi and people begging them for money. CJ struck a deal with his parents, if he could keep his grades up, he wouldn't be sent away from his friends and get sent back to Raid Town. Besides, no one knew his father had children, except for Max and his mom, and a few other people

" Hey Max, have you seen Sue?"

" No, she didn't show up early this time. Maybe she'll be here during lunch break." Max and CJ headed for their first high school lesson, Geometry. Their new teacher was a young, well-packed woman named Xin Chen. She was a sight for all the boys in the school but the subject she was teaching was a turn-off. " Good morning class. I'm your geometry teacher, Miss Xin. Now since all of you are high school freshmen and it's your first time here, allow...."

 An explosion happened just outside the school wall, next to the petrol station. All the students rushed out to see what the commotion was and to their surprise, a fleet of off-road vehicles parked around the petrol station that was on fire. There was one car that stood out from the others. It was a big SUV with eight tires, heavy collision guards, and many lights. The door opened and out from the car came a large, wall of muscle of a man. The man was so big that he overshadowed his own vehicle. One scary factor about this man was the physically oversized muscles and the extra arms he had. He looked like an ancient mythological creature and what made him more frightening was his tattoo-filled arms and small tusks coming out from his bottom jaw.

Many people from the neighborhood and students were horrified by his site but the ones who knew what he was, were excited and yet shocked at the same time. Never in their lives had they seen a real live mutant visiting their small town, let alone destroy their petrol station

" Citizens of Raid town, today...I bring salvation to you." His voice was very deep, loud but scratchy. " I am Pharaoh, leader of the Four Arm Gang. If you co-operate with me, all will go well with you."

" Oh yeah, and what if we don't." One of the citizens said. He was a middle-aged man that came running from his store with a shotgun in his hand that made him feel overconfident. The four-armed man, or Pharaoh, looked at the shotgun man and smiled eerily. Like a creeping vine, his arm stretched out and grabbed the shotgun man by the head and dragged him towards his chest. "I will make an example out of this brave soul." The shotgun man tried shooting but the bullets didn't do anything to Pharaoh. Pharaoh increased the pressure on the man's head, crushing it until his brains came out. Pharaoh smiled at the horrendous smile and licked the blood off of his hands. The little children screamed as their parents hid them from the mutant in front of them.

The rest of the gang members smiled and pulled out spray paint, spraying all over the walls, marking their territory. This marked the day when Raid town lost its freedom. For the safety of the students of Raid High, they were sent back home early. Lucky for CJ, he had bodyguards who took him back home to the estates far from Raid town. Max got back to his place and found his mother anxiously waiting for him. " Oh Max, I'm so happy your safe. Are you okay? Did those goons do anything to you?" She asked as she examined his body for any scratches.

" No need to worry mom. I'm fine. I'm just upset. The same type of people that killed Dad, have now come to our area." Max said angrily. The veins on his head and hands started throbbing and his mom quickly came in to calm him down.

" Don't worry my son. We'll find a way out of this. I hope." Although she said those words to her son, Sue Lin didn't know what to do. Having already experienced terrible trauma from her husband's death, she didn't want the same fate to befall her and her son and she definitely didn't want her son's secret out.

 Later that day, Max and his mother had lunch and as she went out for her second shift, Max headed to the schoolyard where he was to meet up with CJ, who had returned, and Sue Yin, his best female friend. Upon reaching there, he saw his new geometry teacher Xin talking to one of the gang members. He was a tall, dark-skinned man with a bold head and a well-built body that made him look like a wrestler. An outstanding feature of him was his upper canine that stuck out of his mouth whenever he closed it. Max hid behind a tree and could faintly hear what they were discussing.

* You were not supposed to be here by today, Fang. What were you thinking?*

* I'm sorry Miss, but you know how Pharaoh gets with these things. Once he starts, there's no stopping him.*

* You better sort this out before my cover is blown. Any more outbursts from Pharaoh and I'll have his head.*

Max, out of fear, gasped loud enough that Miss Xin and Fang heard. " Hey, who's there?" Fang asked. He pulled out a switchblade and slowly walked to where Max was hiding. " Come out, now." He swung the blade but hit nothing but thin air. Max had managed to escape and he run away as fast as his legs could. Since his mom wasn't home and CJ wasn't nearby, he headed to a dojo with a sign that read * YIN DOJO* This was where Sue Yin and her family lived.

 Max barged in through the door and run to one of the training rooms where he found Sue and her father Jack, training a couple of people. Mr. Yin saw the panic on Max's face so he excused his daughter and allowed her to speak with Max. Sue Yin, a beautiful teenage girl with white clear skin, hazel brown eyes and hair, long legs, and a pretty face, was Max's second friend but also the first female friend he made in Raid town. Her parents once thought that Max had a thing for her but over the years, they grew to trust and love the boy as their own relative.

" Hey Max, what is it?" She asked.

" Gang members...they came and raided our town today....just after classes started. They came in a fleet of around fifteen cars and...and some big guy named Pharaoh declared this town as their territory."

" Wait wait wait, hold up? Our town now belongs to gangsters?"

" Yeah, they call themselves the Four Arm Gang led by a large mutant with four arms but that's not the only alarming news. I saw our new geometry teacher speak with one of the gang members. I think she could have something more sinister to do with this gang than I think."

" Aaugh crap. I hate mutants. What do we do, Max?"

" I don't know yet but for now, I'm gonna find out more about this lady. She may be hot but I know a snake when I see one."Sue nodded her head in agreement and the two continued talking more about the new mutant gang and how they were going to get rid of them. " How about this? Maybe we can try and dig some dirt on them like, find anything that'll get them arrested or kicked out at least." Sue suggested.

 "No, that won't work easily. They're dirty cops everywhere. We need to see what they're hiding. For now, I'll just keep my eye on them. I'll let you know if I see anything." Max replied.

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Hey readers, thanks for giving this book a chance. I appreciate it. For artwork and updates follow me on my Instagram jt3art. Check out my new novel, Awakened: The Beast System. Pardon the errors. If there is anything that doesn't seem right, do comment and I shall correct it. Thank you and enjoy the novel.